Session 37 - The Bloody God
In the aftermath of the blast at the New Church of Apexion cathedral the companions climbed to their feet to see the demonstrating elves limping away, their mission complete. The New Church soldiers looked on in shock as elven illusionist Tristan (disguised as a New Church member), half-elf druid Percival and half-orc fighter Phryne proceeded into the temple, leaving the other shrouded in mist. They past through the damaged and now empty nave, passing a huge statue of Aubrey the Conquerer in the sanctuary. After scaring off some worshippers, they continued through to the sacristy and into the rectory, humble lodgings of the Grand Cardinal-General, where they found little in the way of comfort or evidence of his disappearance. Goblin warlock Elb studied the statue before the others, including shaman Satorus and half-elven paladin Aryndrake were called into the rectory. Percival had discovered a trap and Tristan had used his magic to set it off, a scythe trap in the back of a simple wardrobe, revealing a staircase into an ancient crypt. Percival proceeded down into the crypt as a swarm of insects, discovering a magical trap at the bottom. There, he found at the end of a chamber of rows upon rows of clothing, a pile of bones with a half-skull mask sitting atop them, surrounded by a crudely painted circle of fire around it. After dispelling the magical trap, he called the others down, who began to examine the bones and clothes. Tristan and Aryndrake figured the most recent addition was a week old. Tristan recognized the symbol of the half-skull mask was attached to the Necromancer Lord, and the people of the Malexian Highlands, while Satorus recognized the symbol being connected to Necrexios the Bloody, god of death, destruction, war and chaos. The group slowly realized that they recognized the clothing. Satorus recognized the clothes and brooch of an old woman who had brought him to Phryne. The clothes were of all make and class, and the group speculated that the changeling had taken the guise of different people throughout their time in Port-of-Utopia, and perhaps had been Ixis Wrenwrath, who had led the king to war before poisoning him. They eventually called King Algernon, who in turn led New Church leaders to see what was hidden beneath the cathedral. The New Church members were despondent about the discovery, the future of the Church thrown into question. The young king decided to think on it for the evening, and asked if he could meet with the companions at Strandguard one day on. Before leaving, after Algernon had the cathedral cleared, Elb gave a sermon to the remaining priests and acolytes of the temple, his voice becoming high and feminine, helped by the illusory magic of Tristan and the nature magic of Percival. He claimed that the worship of Aubrey as masculine, and a conqueror, was wrong, and that a return to the old ways was the only answer. The disillusioned elders of the New Church didn't seem interested, but he gathered a few dozen younger people around him, who claimed they had nowhere to go. He sought out Phryne immediately. Phryne proceeded to the Grand Pentacle Temple, where she met with High Priest Reteka and requested for her boon that the church fix up Strandguard. Reteka considered the scope of her request, but told her they would send a crew over immediately to get to work. Tristan proceeded to the Arcane Academy, where he and Master Tiaoro began to research Necrexios and the god of death's connection to the Malexian highlands. Meanwhile Aryndrake had his own work to do. As the companions returned to Strandguard, they found the fortress in a state of activity, as labourers surveyed the work ahead of them, and Elb had the former New Church acolytes clear an old library to become a place of worship for Aubrey. The next day, Tristan and Percival approached Aryndrake about the book he had picked up in the Necropolis. Tristan couldn't read the Old Common text, and with a spell that helped him comprehend languages, Percival could only make out the cover "Eldritch Discourses". Alone with Aryndrake, inside the book, when he tried to read it, he couldn't understand any of it, and it sent a terrible psychic rending through his mind. He realized there was a dark power perhaps corrupting Aryndrake, and that the only way he could read it was to attune himself with the book. He reported what he'd learned back to Tristan. Finally, the king arrived. While Phryne was getting ready after a day of hard labour, Elb showed Algernon the space for worshipping Aubrey, and described how he was raised by humans, and listed off all of the sacred places of Aubrey he'd discovered. Gathered together in the great hall of Strandguard, the king explained he planned to approach the elves himself, since no envoy he had sent returned. Phryne suggested that he perhaps had simply not sent the right envoy, and he asked the companions if they would approach the elves for him. When Percival brought up the weapons of the goblins and their potentially selling it to the elves, the king was greatly interested, and asked the companions if they would approach the goblins about selling weapons to the humans to protect them from the elves. Most of the group was against the idea, though Aryndrake was enthusiastic about it, and Elb wondered what the king would offer the goblins in exchange. The king explained how the goblins had taken over land illegally under the mismanagement of the Directorate, and that he would allow them to remain if the goblins worked as allies of the humans alone. As the group debated this, Teyryn and Bryl approached Phryne. Teyryn seemed nervous and scared as she stated, “Under the purview of the crown and their Lord Protector, I charge Aryndrake with arson and murder.” ACTIVE QUESTS -Attend to the trial of Aryndrake Brilthor -Approach the elves for King Algernon -Investigate the connection to Phryne's amulet and the forces converging on Satorus' home -Tristan will lead an investigation into the goblin activity on the Mainland -Investigate the encroaching dark forces from the East for the forest spirit (party thinks that the magical and destructive properties of tealstone, these goblin factories and Gazek from Gobelton have something to do with it)